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Valiant
Stardate unknown
Red Squad, Nog and Jake behind enemy lines
Synopsis
When the captain asks for them to go beyond that and destroy the gigantic Jem'Hadar ship they had encountered before returning to Federation space, the crew enthusiastically agreed, but Jake voiced his dubiety. The crew of the Valiant thought there was a flaw in the Jem'Hadar ship and pursued it, confidant it can be destroyed despite that its size is more than twenty times as massive as the Valiant. When the young, smart, but hopelessly inexperienced crew takes on the Jem'Hadar super ship, their plan falls apart and the Valiant is destroyed. Only Nog, Jake, and Collins made it out with the escape pods, and were rescued by the Defiant. Credits Written by Ronald D. Moore Directed by Michael Laurence Vejar Guest stars Aron Eisenberg as Nog, Paul Popowich as Watters, Courtney Peldon as Farris, David Drew Gallagher as Shepard, Ashley Brianne McDonogh as Collins  Review We've seen the Red Squad in "Homefront" and "Paradise Lost" before. It is an elite group of cadets at the Academy that receives special training, special attention, "Special everything" according to an awe-struck Nog when he first met the crew of the Valiant. Appropriately over-confident and too full of themselves, the group never got my support for their cause or their ultimate plight. Captain Watters made a decent captain, and he isn't Wesley (thank god), but every time I looked at him and First Officer Farris, my mind just thought, "Sure. Some teenagers are fooling around on a Defiant Class bridge on a mission to circumnavigate Federation territory." Irrational, silly, and just plain unbelievable. Ok. Now I will look past that and review the rest of the episode with a cool, disinterested eye despite what I personally feel about the whole premise. That Jake and Nog were attacked by Jem'Hadar and then momentarily received the assistance of the Valiant so near Federation territory is strange. Considering that the Valiant has been listed as missing in action for so many months, it's odd that they're so close to the border and yet haven't contacted Starfleet. The Red Squad cadets are mostly nondescript. We hardly saw anyone in detail but Watters, First Officer Farris, and Chief Collins. Even then, the only real dialogue worth remembering is Collins' talk about her childhood as a girl growing up on the Moon. When Watters gathers up his crew for a group pep talk, he manages to rev up the spirits of the crew and have everyone join in chanting, "Red Squad! Red Squad!" except for two persons, Jake and one Vulcan. Nice touch there. The actual battle with the Dominion ship evoked many images of Star Trek: A New Hope. When Farris reported, "We've found a flaw in the design of their antimatter storage system," I half expected some mention of a small thermal exhaust port somewhere. The fx budget was spent well in the scene where the Valiant flew under the Jem'Hadar ship when it launched its two torpedoes. When the Jem'Hadar ship came out of the fireball undamaged, however, the Defiant didn't come flying out and saving the day as perhaps could have been the case for a more happy ending. Instead, the script called for the destruction of the Valiant and the demise of most of her crew. Certainly, I didn't shed any tears for the Red Squad. I hardly know yee, Red Squad, and you brought this all upon yourself. Sorry, kids. Better luck next time. In the closing scene, when the three lone survivors, Jake, Nog, and Collins, spoke together and reflected on what happened, the final word went to Nog. He asked Jake to write that the crew of the Valiant had thought Captain Watters a great man and let the readers reach a verdict. But then, Nog went over to Collins, who was lying on the sickbay medical bed and told her in no uncertain words that, "In the end, he [Watters] was a bad captain." For having plunged his crew into unnecessary danger and killing them all, I don't think there could be any other conclusion. Do you? My Rating 4.0 Not great, but nothing to dislike. Jake should have been used more. Your Rating 5.0
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Valiant's Red Squad Crew
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